MP referendum asks residents to keep tax

by Sandy Kaczmarski
Maple Park—Maple Park residents could be faced with hefty tax increases to replace a revenue stream to fund needed capital improvements if the No Tax Increase referendum fails to pass on April 5.

“If voters say yes, we can continue to collect the tax we’ve been using to pay off bonds and use it to pay for needed capital improvements,” Village President Kathy Curtis said.

A bond issue from 20 years ago is about to be paid off and would mean lower property taxes for homeowners, but Curtis said now the village faces $10 million in needed improvements without any way to pay for them. By continuing to collect the tax after the bonds are paid off, Curtis said there would be little impact on homeowners who already are contributing with their property taxes.

“We have one gas station, and there’s no commercial property in town,” Curtis said. “The village operates on property taxes.”

Despite aggressively seeking government grants, Curtis said most of them require matching funds. She said without continuing to collect the tax, village officials would be forced to find other sources of revenue, which could mean a hefty increase in water and sewer rates.

Curtis said anyone with questions about the referendum should feel free to call her cell phone at (815) 209-7666, or to contact any of the board of trustees, whose numbers are on the village of Maple Park’s website, www.villageofmaplepark.com. A fact sheet about the referendum is also at www.villageofmaplepark.com/facts.pdf.

The referendum reads: “Shall the debt service extension base under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for the Village of Maple Park, DeKalb and Kane Counties, Illinois, for payment of principal and interest on limited bonds be established at $91,100 for the 2011 levy year and all subsequent levy years, such debt service extension base to be increased each year by the lesser of 5% or the percentage increase in the consumer Price Index during the 12-month calendar year preceding the levy year?”